


Inspiration Investigation!: The Phantom Menace

by a_salty_alto



Category: Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Ghosts, I am bad with math and dates so this may or may not work out timeline-wise i am very sorry, Maybe - Freeform, Pre-Canon, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2020-08-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:28:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25965892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_salty_alto/pseuds/a_salty_alto
Summary: "Madarame-san, welcome!" Yukiko's mother says."Thank you for having me." Madarame replies.Yukiko tries to look around him and get a better look at the kid behind him, but they just scuttle further away.Madarame laughs. "Don't mind Yusuke, he's a little shy." The old man gives a little push and a small boy with wide, gray eyes stumbles in front of him.
Relationships: Amagi Yukiko & Kitagawa Yusuke
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	Inspiration Investigation!: The Phantom Menace

**Author's Note:**

> I really liked Yukiko and Yusuke's Special Screening in PQ2 so I decided to write them meeting as kids, please enjoy.

The staff at the inn rush past Yukiko with barely a glance her direction. They’d been getting ready for weeks for an artist who’d taken the world by storm a couple of years ago. For the life of her, Yukiko can’t remember his name, though it probably won’t matter since she won’t have to talk to him. At the tender age of 12, her job is more to observe and start to learn to imitate her mother for when she inevitably takes over the inn.

A car pulls up and everyone moves into position, Yukiko standing next to her mother and watching an old man get out of the car. 

As soon as he steps through the doors, the staff take the old man's coat and for a brief moment, Yukiko can see tiny arms as one of them helps someone behind the old man.

"Madarame-san, welcome!" Yukiko's mother says.

"Thank you for having me." Madarame replies.

Yukiko tries to look around him and get a better look at the kid behind him, but they just scuttle further away.

Madarame laughs. "Don't mind Yusuke, he's a little shy." The old man gives a little push and a small boy with wide, gray eyes stumbles in front of him.

"H-hello. My name is Yusuke Kitagawa," the boy says, unsure of where to look.

Yukiko's mother smiles at him. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. Do you travel with Madarame often?"

Yusuke shakes his head. 

"Well then, I hope you enjoy your stay. Yukiko, can you entertain Yusuke-kun for a little while while the adults talk?"

Yukiko stares at the small boy, probably around 5 or 6, who seems to have settled on staring at his feet.

"Alright." Yukiko says, then offers him her hand. Yusuke looks between Madarame and Yukiko before Madarame gives him a nod and Yusuke takes her hand. 

She takes him around the corner and out of sight of the adults.

"So Yusuke-kun is it? What do you want to do?"

"I dunno." Yusuke mumbles, before quickly standing up straighter to look her in the eye. "Um, I mean, I'm happy with whatever you want to do, Amagi-san."

"Just Yukiko is fine," she says. “I can tell you about the history of the inn, or the town. Anything you want to know?” Yukiko asks.

"Actually... before I came here, one of the older pupils told me that old places like this are haunted,” Yusuke says. He leans forward and looks around, like he’s afraid someone will hear him. “Do you know anything about ghosts?"

Yukiko can’t help it, and starts laughing. 

Yusuke’s shoulders immediately slump and he looks down at the floor. “I’m sorry it’s childish, I know.”

“No! No no no, it’s not that.” Yukiko catches her breath and wipes a tear from her eye. “I’m sorry, I just wasn’t expecting anyone else to be interested in ghosts.”

“So, you  _ do _ know about ghosts?” Yusuke asks.

Yukiko grins. “I’m practically an expert.“I know all the scary stories about any place in Inaba, and I can tell you about any sort of ghost-"

"Mean ones!" Yusuke shouts, before catching himself and speaking more softly. “I mean, I want to know about how to get rid of a mean ghost that’s scaring away my senpai.”

“Have you seen this mean ghost?”

Yusuke pouts. “No, I think it only comes out after my bedtime. But I can hear weird noises at night sometimes. And when I get up in the morning, paintings will be knocked over or destroyed or missing. And pupils keep leaving all of a sudden for no reason! Sensei keeps telling me not to worry about it and the other pupils won't say anything but I know something's going on."

"Hmm... strange noises and things being destroyed." Yukiko hums. "Sounds like what you need is something to ward it off."

"How do I do that?"

“I think I saw something about it in a book at the store,” Yukiko says, “but mother says I’m too young for that kind of stuff.”

“So what do we do?”

“We have to go find that book!”

Yusuke frowns. “But your mother said not to.”

“Well she doesn’t have to know that’s what we’re doing. We can bring some paper and you can copy whatever you need from the book!”

“Should I tell Sensei what we’re doing?”

“No.”

“But-”

“If you tell him, he’ll tell my mom. Do not tell him.”

“What about when we get back?”

“Do not tell him. Ever. It’s our secret.”

Yusuke tilts his head to the side, before giving a resolute nod. “Alright.”

“Good,” Yukiko says. “To the bookstore!”

They get their coats from the coatroom, and Yukiko pokes her head into the room where her mother and Madarame are talking. 

“I’m taking Yusuke-kun to the shrine,” she says.

“Is that alright?” Madarame asks.

“Oh they’ll be fine. Yukiko is very responsible,” Yukiko’s mother assures him.

“Very well. Yusuke, be good.”

“Yes, Sensei,” Yusuke says. “I’ll make a picture of it for you!”

Madarame nods. “I look forward to it.”

The adults go back to talking, and Yukiko and Yusuke set off towards the shopping district. It’s a chilly January afternoon, fat snowflakes falling all around them. Yusuke has a large sketchbook and some pencils he brought tucked under his arm and holds onto Yukiko’s hand tightly. 

They arrive in the shopping district no worse for wear, which gives them a little time to browse. Yusuke immediately wanders off to look at the fabrics on display at Tatsumi Textiles, and Yukiko feels a wet nose brush up against her leg.

“Muku!” Yukiko coos, leaning down to pet Chie’s dog, “you’ve gotten big, haven’t you?” Chie runs up to them.

“Muku, please don’t run off like that,” she says between breaths, “and hey Yukiko!”

“Hi Chie, out for a run?”

“Yeah, but I lost my grip on Muku’s leash and he ran off on me, like a  _ bad dog _ .” Chie looks down and glares at Muku, and he looks up at her and tilts his head. “Aw, don’t gimme that face,” Chie sighs. She kneels down to give Muku a good scratch, “I can’t stay mad at you.”

“You’re a good boy, aren’t you Muku?” Yukiko asks, kneeling down to pet him too.

“Yukiko?” Yusuke says, coming over from the display.

“Ah, Yusuke! This is my friend Chie, and her dog, Muku. Chie, this is Yusuke, he’s staying at the inn with his teacher and I’m taking him shopping.”

“Hello.” Yusuke says.

“Hiya!”

“...May I pet your dog?”

“Of course! Muku loves the attention.”

Yusuke carefully reaches out to pet Muku, his eye lighting up when he feels his fur. “He’s so soft!”

“So, where are you from, Yusuke-kun?” Chie asks.

“Tokyo.”

“Whoa! So you ride in the big underground trains and stuff?”

“Sometimes. Usually only if I’m going out with one of the other pupils. Sensei doesn’t like the trains so he has a driver take him places in the car.”

“Whoa, you live in the city and have a personal driver? That’s fancy.”

Yusuke stops petting Muku and frowns. “It’s not _ that  _ fancy.”

“Compared to here it is,” Chie says, before checking her watch. “Gah, I gotta go. See you at school Yukiko!”

“See you!”

Chie and Muku run off, leaving Yusuke and Yukiko to walk to the Yomenaido Bookstore. The book Yukiko saw is exactly where she remembers. She pulls the thick black tome off it’s shelf and lays it on the floor so Yusuke can see. Flipping through the pages, she finds the two page spread with a circular design on it.

“Ok, so according to this, you’re supposed to make a whole bunch of these and put them up to summon the ghost. Then you can leave out an offering to appease it so it won’t lash out in the real world.”

Yusuke pulls out his sketchbook and dutifully starts copying the pattern in the book. His face is scrunched up in concentration, constantly looking back and forth to make sure the pattern is right. Eventually, he gives a satisfied nod and closes the book. “Thank you, Yukiko.”

Yukiko smiles. “No problem, I’m happy to help.” She closes up the book and puts it back on the shelf before standing up. “Now, we just have to stop by the shrine, and then it’s back to the inn.”

“Right!”

At the shrine, Yusuke once again opens his sketchbook and focuses on making his sketch of the place look nice. Yukiko watches respectfully, but when Yusuke nods to himself that he’s finished, she tosses a snowball at his chest.

Yusuke stumbles backwards, surprised, and Yukiko bursts out laughing.

“No fair, I wasn’t ready!” Yusuke says.

“It’s not a sneak attack if you’re-” a snowball hits Yukiko in the face. Yukiko starts laughing harder and Yusuke scurries off behind a snow mound.

Their glorious battle for wintery dominance goes on for hours (though really not more than 15 minutes) and they walk back to the inn laughing with snow in their hair.

* * *

Before leaving the next day, Yusuke gives Yukiko a hug goodbye before climbing into the car for the drive back home. 

“So, did you have fun Yusuke?” Madarame asks.

Yusuke nods. “Yes! Can we come back? I want to play with Yukiko again.”

Madarame laughs and ruffles Yusuke’s hair. “Maybe one day.”


End file.
